The House of Fear

This is one of the best of the low-budget Sherlock Holmes films with Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson.

Seven men, the "Good Comrades" have formed a club, and they all live together in a castle on the North coast of Scotland. They all have life insurance policies of high value, the beneficiaries being the surviving members of the club. Holmes is called in by the insurers when two of them die violently in quick succession.

It all takes place in the castle, and more of the Comrades meet an end, so it's Ten Little Indians territory.

Rathbone and Bruce, with the cheerful support of Dennis Hoey as Lestrade, do their usual number with a fairly intricate plot, and a jolly good time is had by all.

The direction is pacy, and it rattles along very satisfactorily; the production values are pretty low, but we're only looking at story-telling than brilliant cinematography.

Enjoyable stuff.

Roy William Neil directed Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce as Sherlock Holmes & Doctor Watson in this loose adaptation of 'The Five Orange Pips'. Holmes & Watson are called to Scotland by an insurance company to investigate a case where seven men who belong to an exclusive club, and all of whom have taken out life insurance policies naming the others as the beneficiaries. Two have died already, and Holmes must prevent further deaths, and determine who the murderer is. Like the past two films, this is atmospheric and exciting, with a clever story and surprise ending. The series was at its peak here, but unfortunately would begin to decline afterward.

With lots of atmospheric detail and an interesting, involved Sherlock Holmes mystery story, this is one of many enjoyable features in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series. The plot is, to be honest, pretty far-fetched, but it makes for a very entertaining story with lots of intriguing developments. The supporting cast features Dennis Hoey as Inspector Lestrade, Aubrey Mather as an interesting oddball character, and Paul Cavanagh in a good role as one of the suspects.

The story takes some of the basic elements from Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Five Orange Pips", but places it in an entirely new setting that works much better on the screen. It also adds many other ideas, some from Doyle, and some from other sources. The good cast and the effective atmosphere in a remote corner of Scotland help to keep the story interesting instead of straining plausibility.

Roy William Neill does one of his many solid directing jobs in the series, keeping a good balance between entertainment and mystery, and between the original characters and the contemporary setting. It might not be the most tightly-crafted of the series, but it's certainly one of the more enjoyable ones to watch.

Sherlock Holmes agrees to an insurance company request to investigate the gruesome deaths of wealthy gentlemen living in a Scottish mansion. Each death is predicted by the strange delivery of Orange Pips to the next intended victim.

Lets get the main fact out of the way first, although an adaptation of Conan Doyle's Holmes story, {Adventures} The Five Orange Pips, The House Of Fear bears little resemblance to that particular source. So purist fans of the literary aspects are in for a let down. Or are they? Directed by Roy William Neill with the screenplay coming from Roy Chanslor, this tenth entry in the Rathbone/Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes films is a deliciously atmospheric mystery piece holding its own. Set very much in the creepy mansion formula, House Of Fear, with all its off kilter camera work {beautifully realised now with the marvellous restoration job}, utilises the scope for "nothing is ever what it seems" to great effect. Thus of course giving Holmes {Rathbone impeccable as usual} license to detect with great gusto and ingenuity. This is after all what one wants from a Sherlock Holmes film me thinks? The film is also aided by some rather fine work from the sound department, winds and footsteps are sharp to the ears, again impacting on the mood to fully involve the viewer.

While the relatively short running time stops it from being a fully born out mystery, and yes if you dig deep enough you will find a couple of creaky plot holes. The House Of Fear is still one of the better entries in this marvellous series of films. Sometimes it's all about the characters and the situation they find themselves in. With that, this becomes an essential Holmes movie, regardless of grumbles from purists and plot holers alike. 7/10

Above average Holmes. The real stars, however, are the evocative Gothic interiors of the seaside cliff house. The dimly-lit great halls and chambers provide genuine atmosphere, and are a tribute to Universal's art and set directors, respectively. The plot itself is reasonably compelling as we try to guess who's killing off members of a gentleman's club one-by-one. Still and all, the brief running time, 69 minutes, doesn't allow much character development, so the whodunit angle remains underdeveloped. Couple that with the pointless presence of an unfunny Inspector LaStrade (isn't Watson supposed to supply the comic relief?) and much valuable screen time is wasted. I wish the screenplay had taken better advantage of the spooky sets by playing up the menace, as for example, the shadowy appearance of the mystery man's shoes. Or Sally Shepherd as the zombie-like housekeeper, Mrs. Monteith, who's enough to make you want to clean your own castle. Nonetheless, there's enough mystery, atmosphere, and Basil Rathbone to make this a solid Holmes entry.